**EXHIBIT31.1**

 

CERTIFICATIONPURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE

SARBANES-OXLEYACT OF 2002

 

I, JohnA. Brda, certify that:

 

1.    Ihave reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q/A of Torchlight Energy Resources, Inc. for the period ended March 31,2020;

 

2.    Basedon my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessaryto make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respectto the period covered by this report;

 

3.    Basedon my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all materialrespects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presentedin this report;

 

4.    Theregistrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures(as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15 (e) and 15d- 15 (e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in ExchangeAct Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

 

a)  Designedsuch disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision,to ensure that material information relating to the small business issuer, including its consolidated subsidiary, ismade known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

 

b)  Designedsuch internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed underour supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financialstatements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

 

c)  Evaluatedthe effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures, and presented in this report our conclusions aboutthe effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on suchevaluation; and

 

d)  Disclosedin this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’sfourth quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal controlover the financial reporting; and

 

5.    Ihave disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditorsand the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

 

a)  Allsignificant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting whichare reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information;and

 

b)  Anyfraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’sinternal control over financial reporting.